‘Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Recap – ‘Ragtag’ (Season Finale)

Plymouth, Massachusetts - We meet Ward fifteen years earlier in juvenile detention. Ward is taken to the visitor’s room where he meets Garrett for the first time. Garrett asks if Ward knew that his older brother was in the house when he set fire to it. Garrett goes on and offers to take Ward with him, stating it will be the hardest thing he’s done, but fun. Garrett states he works for an organization that looks for young people like him. He tells Ward that he has ten seconds to decide. After some provoking, Ward says yes, and agents burst in leading their way to escape.

Fitz-Simmons and Skye watch TV in the motel and a story on Deathlok killing a drug lord comes on. They try to figure out why he would go after someone with Hydra ties, and Coulson tells them to go in the other room. Coulson goes over a diagram he has made linking Cybertek, who created Deathlok, to Cybertek selling supplies to Quinn, who worked for the Clairvoyant, who turned out to be Garrett, who planted Ward on The Bus, all to find out about GH-325. Skye implanted a Trojan Horse on the hard drive Garrett now has, linking the location of where they store the files. In order for it to work, they have to plug in a USB drive to the mainframe of Cybertek. Coulson states S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more, and their mission is unofficial. Fitz states they’re vigilantes.

On the bus, Garrett and Ward talk about the death of the drug lord in Bogota, how Ward could have just killed him with one shot. Garrett wanted it to be a spectacle, which is why he had Deathlok do it. Deathlok walks in and Garrett calls Zeller to stream video of Mike’s son to him, for doing such a good job. Ward expresses he is upset about his order for Deathlok to kill him. Garrett states he finally is getting what he wants after 25 years, and asks him to just be happy for him.

They head down to the lab and talk with Raina. She states she’s close to replicating GH-325, stating she’s uploading the data from the hard drive to Cuba, where they are headed.

At the motel, Coulson talks to Skye and Fitz at the pool and states they are going undercover to Cybertek’s office in Palo Alto. Fitz show hesitation of the plan, and Coulson states he doesn’t have to go. Fitz then starts to talk about Ward, and that maybe his being controlled like Deathlok. Skye says he’s just evil, but Fitz can’t believe that, saying something happened to make him do this. Triplett comes up with a suitcase, filled with spy gear from his grandfather, who was part of the Howling Commandos.

They open up the briefcase and Coulson quickly starts to check out all the gear, excitedly. Fitz states a lot of the gear was made to look innocent, as Skye pushes on what looks like a joy buzzer but is actually an EMP, knocking out power in a 10 foot radius. Fitz takes out a pack of cigarettes, takes one out, and it is actually a laser. He unknowingly starts to burn the curtains.

Garrett and Ward, 15 years earlier, walk in the woods by a river as Garrett holds two dead ducks in his hand, and rifle over his shoulder. Ward expresses concern about people looking for them, but Garrett explains no one is looking for them, and the cops stay out of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s way. Garrett informs Ward he will be staying out in the woods, and will have to learn to survive. Ward complains about not having anything, and Garrett bullies him, and tells him he has to work and earn food and shelter. As Garrett pulls away in a truck, he tells Ward he’ll be back in a couple months. Garrett leaves the dog, Buddy, with him.